11 Personality Traits that Can Hurt Productivity

Identifying personality traits and evaluating how they will fit into a specific business environment is a commonly recognized yet often overlooked challenge. Effective teamwork can benefit productivity and customer satisfaction, while reducing cost and errors through effective communication.

Technical skills are easier to identify since they are listed in job applications, however, and are often the main criteria considered by a hiring company. In light of the persistent cloud skills shortage, this is understandable, but the risk of ignoring personality is significant.

Psychologists identified 11 “dark-side” personality traits in the late 90s that “resemble the most common personality disorders” when taken to the extreme, according to research by Hogan Assessments. As reported in the Harvard Business Review, the research shows that most people give indications of at least three dark-side traits, and 40 percent demonstrate one or two traits strongly enough “to put them at risk for disruption in their careers—even if they’re currently successful and effective. The result is pervasive dysfunctional behavior at work.”

The research suggests that leaders are often not sufficiently aware of their own dark-side traits, and that changing them after 30 years of age is difficult. It also suggests that it is possible, through self-awareness, persistence, and setting appropriate goals.